In certain Internet protocol environments, flows from a mobile node may be carried over tunnels between network elements (e.g., between a mobility access gateway and a local mobility anchor). There are various networking considerations when trying to manage these flows. For example, data rate and quality of service (QoS) issues should be addressed for each of these flows. Certain traffic flows may need bandwidth guarantees (e.g., to minimize delay, jitter etc.): while other flows may need to be carried over a common tunnel with additional traffic flows that deserve best effort routing. As a general proposition, managing packet flows, without sacrificing performance, presents a significant challenge to service providers, network operators, and system designers alike.